Page Toppers

Quotes

The heart of the world beats under the three hills of Boston. (Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.)

I lived alone, in the woods, a mile from any neighbor, in a house which I had built myself, on the shore of Walden Pond, in Concord, Massachusetts, and earned my living by the labor of my hands only. (Henry David Thoreau)

I shall enter on no encomium upon Massachusetts; she needs none. There she is. Behold her, and judge for yourselves. There is her history; the world knows it by heart. The past, at least, is secure. There is Boston and Concord and Lexington and Bunker Hill; and there they will remain forever. (Daniel Webster)

The one thing the Pilgrims certainly didn't do was step ashore on Plymouth Rock. Quite apart from the consideration that it may have stood well above the high-water mark in 1620, no prudent mariner would try to bring a ship alongside a boulder in a heaving December sea when a sheltered inlet beckoned nearby. If the Pilgrims even noticed Plymouth Rock, there is no sign of it. (Bill Bryson)

We are by September and yet my flowers are bold as June. Amherst has gone to Eden. (Emily Dickinson)

Massachusetts Symbols

Nicknames: The Bay State; The Baked Bean State; The Old Colony State; Old Bay State; The Pilgrim state

Massachusetts State Ode

(Joseph Falzone)

Freedom, Freedom, Freedom
From the Freedom Trail in Boston
To the dome on Beacon Hill
To Framingham and Worcestor
And Springfield if you will
From Concord on to Lexington
No matter where you roam
There's a not so common Commonwealth
It's the place that I call home

You are the heart of New England
Old Ironsides and Bunker Hill
Where JFK once paved the way
To the day the world stood still
Your one by land and two by sea
Helped set our country free
You can't get better Massachusetts
You'll always be sweet home to me.
No, you can't get better Massachusetts
You'll always be sweet home to me.
Freedom, Freedom, Freedom

Items of Interest

The first American public library was founded in Boston in 1653

The African Meeting House on Joy Street in Boston was the first church built by free blacks, 1806.

Boston built the first subway system in the United States in 1897.

Volleyball was invented in Holyoke in 1895 by William G. Morgan.

Hingham's Derby Academy, founded in 1784, is the oldest co-educational school in the US.

Hingham's First Parish Old Ship Church is the oldest church structure in the US in continuous use as a place of worship.

The Fig Newton was named after Newton, Massachusetts.

Lowell was America's first planned industrial city.

Boston Common became the first public park in America in 1634.

The first basketball game was played in Springfield in 1891.

Quincy boasts the first Dunkin Donuts on Hancock Street and the first Howard Johnson's on Newport Ave.

The birth control pill was invented at Clark University in Worcester.

Harvard, the first college established in North America, was founded in 1636. Because of Harvard's size there is no universal mailing address that will work for every office at the University.

The Boston University Bridge on Commonwealth Avenue in Boston is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.

The Mather school was founded in Dorchester in 1639. It is the first public elementary school in the US.

Jamaica Plain was once the state headquarters of Greenpeace. The building still has a weather vane with a whale on it.

The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621.

The first American novel, The Power of Sympathy, by William Hill Brown, was published in Worcester in 1789.

The State Flag
The flag has the state coat of arms on a white background. The shield has an image of a Native American with bow and arrow. The arrow points down to represent peace. Other symbols on the flag are: blue (for the Blue Hills); a white star (represents MA as one of the original thirteen colonies); a shield and sword represent the state motto (By the Sword We Seek Peace, but Peace Only Under Liberty).

You know you are from Massachusetts if...

You think crosswalks are for wimps.

Khakis are something you start the car with.

You think if someone's nice to you, they either want something or they are from out of town and probably lost.

You know how to cross four lanes of traffic in five seconds.

Anything past Worcester is "the middle of nowhere".

You think it's not actually tailgating unless your bumper is touching the car in front of you.

You know that a yellow light means at least five more cars can get through...and that a red light means two more can.

A Crown Victoria = undercover cop.

The transportation system is know as the "T"...Subway is a fast food place.

You could own a small town in Iowa for the cost of your house.

There are 24 Dunkin Donuts Shops within fifteen minutes of your house.

When people talk about the "curse of the Bambino," you know what they are talking about, and you believe in it, too.

You think of Rhode Island as the "Deep South".

You believe using a turn signal gives away your plan to the enemy.

If you stay on the same road long enough, it will eventually have at least three different names.

Someone has honked at you because you didn't peel out the second the light turned green.

You've honked at someone because they didn't peel out the second the light turned green.

Potholes just add excitement to your driving experience.

Stop signs mean slow down a little...if you feel like it.

Six inches of snow is considered a "dusting".

Three days of 90+ degrees is considered a "heat wave".

$15 to park is a bargain.

You cringe every time you hear some actor/actress imitate the "Boston accent" on TV or in a movie. If you don't have it, you're never going to get it right...even if your were born here.

You can go from one side of your hometown to the other in less than fifteen minutes.